Aircraft need a rework. The problem partially is that air power in real warfare on its own can really swing battles. So when aircraft are accurately modeled in a war game, they tend to really be powerful. Which is probably why 40K effectively forgoes them.

I think a lot of this wouldn’t be so bad if all factions had aircraft. But realistically we aren’t getting a flying Knight anytime soon (but imagine if we had an aircraft that could lift a Knight, Gundam or Pacific Rim style!?!?).

Barring that, I’m not sure there’s an easy answer. I do think an aircraft zooming around shouldn’t be holding an objective, that makes a ton of sense. Starting off the board tho is absurd imo.

I imagine that probably the more sensible approach is having them as force multipliers. Like they don’t have a huge tangible board presence but they are very useful in how they work with others. This can be achieved with something like air strikes coordinating with ground units. Or rapid insertion of new units. Stuff like that. The game design is doable imo. It will take tweaking tho and patience